Do leopard tortoises slow down in the fall too?

[Megatron's Mom]

I know leopard tortoises do not brumate, but do they slow down some?

Just recently Bubble has started hiding out more and eating less. Weight gain is still really good and he is 201g. This past month has been a steady 10 grams a week weight gain. My best guess is he will be a year old late this year. (when do they hatch out late in the year?)

He will eat all his mazuri when I give it, twice a week. I offer both kinds he eats both. Eats one full saucerful about the size he is and then maybe he will come out more later that day. He loves opuntia and will eat a pretty good part of that.

They still get grass clippings from good knows what kinds of grass I have back there, clover, grape leaves, blueberry leaves, hibiscus leaves and flowers, the other kids of hardy hibiscus leaves and flowers. Turnip greens, dandelion leaves, bokchoy, endive, radicchio, mustard greens, and a bunch more stuff I can't think of atm. Everything is random and switched up and has been this way for along time so nothing new or out of the ordinary.

We still get to go outside, he has a little pool with lots of seeds growing nicely with yummy stuff. (chicken forage mix) its just dirt from the backyard nothing from the stores so no perilite or other weird stuff. Temps are still pretty warm here 95 today.

He's in a greenhouse enclosure with great steady temps, 95-98 under the basking light, 4 hours of UVB that is if we don't get outside, overall temps never go below 82.

Optimus Prime is the Sulcata with the exact same everything hasn't really slowed down. Nothing else seems off, or is it maybe since Optimus is eating so much more that it just looks like BumbleBee is slowing down?

 

[wellington]

I have one that does and one that doesn't.
Mine that does loves to find the coolest spot in the enclosure and hide away. He does come out to eat and drink, will roam some, but not like in the summer and not like the other one who is all over the place.
So no they don't brumate, but yes, some will slow some.
At least one of mine does and I raised him from a hatchling and he always did this. The other I didn't raise from a hatchling.

 

[Megatron's Mom]

I have one that does and one that doesn't.
Mine that does loves to find the coolest spot in the enclosure and hide away. He does come out to eat and drink, will roam some, but not like in the summer and not like the other one who is all over the place.
So no they don't brumate, but yes, some will slow some.
At least one of mine does and I raised him from a hatchling and he always did this. The other I didn't raise from a hatchling.

Thank you, that makes me feel better. I get so worried.

 

[wellington]

Totally understand. I used to triple check all the lights, heat, etc, in the begining. I have had my one since 2011 and so I finally got used to it.

 

[Tom]

I know leopard tortoises do not brumate, but do they slow down some?

Just recently Bubble has started hiding out more and eating less. Weight gain is still really good and he is 201g. This past month has been a steady 10 grams a week weight gain. My best guess is he will be a year old late this year. (when do they hatch out late in the year?)

He will eat all his mazuri when I give it, twice a week. I offer both kinds he eats both. Eats one full saucerful about the size he is and then maybe he will come out more later that day. He loves opuntia and will eat a pretty good part of that.

They still get grass clippings from good knows what kinds of grass I have back there, clover, grape leaves, blueberry leaves, hibiscus leaves and flowers, the other kids of hardy hibiscus leaves and flowers. Turnip greens, dandelion leaves, bokchoy, endive, radicchio, mustard greens, and a bunch more stuff I can't think of atm. Everything is random and switched up and has been this way for along time so nothing new or out of the ordinary.

We still get to go outside, he has a little pool with lots of seeds growing nicely with yummy stuff. (chicken forage mix) its just dirt from the backyard nothing from the stores so no perilite or other weird stuff. Temps are still pretty warm here 95 today.

He's in a greenhouse enclosure with great steady temps, 95-98 under the basking light, 4 hours of UVB that is if we don't get outside, overall temps never go below 82.

Optimus Prime is the Sulcata with the exact same everything hasn't really slowed down. Nothing else seems off, or is it maybe since Optimus is eating so much more that it just looks like BumbleBee is slowing down?

I think Barb's observation is pretty typical of what I have seen too. Some of them slow down, and some of them don't. They definitely notice cooler temps and shorter days, so its important to make sure your temps are kept up and your lights are good and bright, and set for the correct times.

 

[Megatron's Mom]

I think Barb's observation is pretty typical of what I have seen too. Some of them slow down, and some of them don't. They definitely notice cooler temps and shorter days, so its important to make sure your temps are kept up and your lights are good and bright, and set for the correct times.

Thank you,

I did change the lights from 14 hour days to 13 but Bumble started doing this before then.
I have a few led strips at 6500k, nice and bright. They wrap all around the enclosure no dark spots unless he goes in the hide. I guess he's just smart enough to still know fall is coming. Even to Arkansas

 

[wellington]

I think Barb's observation is pretty typical of what I have seen too. Some of them slow down, and some of them don't. They definitely notice cooler temps and shorter days, so its important to make sure your temps are kept up and your lights are good and bright, and set for the correct times.

Do you think the ones that do slow down, would still do it if they were in their native land, where the temps don't change as much?
Or does the weather change a lot from summer to winter, just not as cold?
What part is the Babcocki from?
I know some areas, according to all the info I have read and maps I've seen, certain areas of Africa can get into the high 30's to high 60's in winter.
My cousin was just there in June. Near Johannesburg and it was cold. Average high upper 60's, couple 70's The low then was 40's-low 50's at night.

 

[Tom]

Do you think the ones that do slow down, would still do it if they were in their native land, where the temps don't change as much?
Or does the weather change a lot from summer to winter, just not as cold?
What part is the Babcocki from?
I know some areas, according to all the info I have read and maps I've seen, certain areas of Africa can get into the high 30's to high 60's in winter.
My cousin was just there in June. Near Johannesburg and it was cold. Average high upper 60's, couple 70's The low then was 40's-low 50's at night.

There is seasonal variation through most of the range of the leopard tortoise. There is no more babcocki. Its all one species now. No sub species. There are 11 clades all over the enormous range. This species and all its various forms ranges from Somalia and Ethiopia in the North all the way down to the tippy tip of South Africa

The ones we used to call babcocki tend to come from the warmer more tropical parts of the range, but some areas do get night temps in the 30s in at least some parts of the range. In some parts of South Africa where the ones we used to call pardali pardalis come from, its snows and the SA leopards there literally brumate under the snow like a Testudo species would. I worked with a guy over there who lived in such an area and he told me all about it.

Johannesberg is in South Africa and their climate is very much a temperate climate like mine here in Southern CA, and not tropical. Their weather is about the same as here, though it is reversed since they are in the Southern hemisphere. July and August is their "winter" and January and December is their hot summer weather. I did a Mercedes commercial with baboons in Johannesburg in 1998 and some nights were near freezing, but with warm sunny days, just like winter here at home.

I would imagine that wild ones react similarly to the way ours do. Some call it quits and retire to the hiding spots sooner than others. I'm sure there is a spectrum of behavior for wild ones too.